Greater Beings, the Universe, Gods and Others
I should start at the beginning, but what is the beginning? All things have one in this universe. Not so with all things Nowhere. In the beginning was the Word and the Word was God and the Word was with God. Yes, for that pantheon. Each beginning is unique to those who embrace those beliefs. It is better to say that, in the beginning, there was Nothing. There was no form or substance. Yet there were somethings whose divinity transcended anything imaginable. They are વિચાર બનાવટ પહેલાં,'' as Grandfather wrote them in his dusty old tomes. I recall running my fingers over the fading ink and asking him to translate what it meant. He rolled his eyes at me and said only "Before thoughts creation". I can only assume he was hurmoring me. Most likely, the words are Gujarati for "fat baby ducks".'' - Marcus Usseio, Magos Explorator PL Terminology ;uni- :word-forming element meaning "having one only," from Latin uni-, comb. form of unus : ;multi- :before vowels mult-, word-forming element meaning "many, many times, much," from comb. form of Latin multus "much, many," from PIE *ml-to-, from root *mel- "strong, great, numerous" (cf. Latin melior "better," Greek mala "very, very much"). ;omni- :word-forming element meaning "all," from Latin omni-, combining form of omnis "all, every, the whole, of every kind," of unknown origin, perhaps literally "abundant," from *op-ni-, from PIE root *op- "to work, produce in abundance" ;universe (n.) :1580s, "the whole world, cosmos," from Old French univers (12c.), from Latin universum "the universe," noun use of neuter of adj. universus "all together," literally "turned into one," from unus "one" + versus, past participle of vertere "to turn". There are many dimensions. These multiverses are scattered and prolific. If you group them all together, you have an omniverse or a collection of like-dimensions. These omniverse are contained in the single and only Universe. Universe As Dimension The Universe is the 10th dimension. There is only one. It's the birth and final resting spot of infinity. It's a hard physics concept that's been corrupted by science fiction and fantasy. Some refer to it with catchy terminology such as "omniverse" or "metaverse". To state, "I come from another dimension" does not mean one comes from a different Universe. It simply means one comes from a lower-ranking dimension within the 10th dimension. In reality: Inside the 10th dimension are billions of dimensions and each of these can have billions of smaller dimensions (9th dimension can contain a billion 8th dimensions which contain a billion 7th dimensions... right on down to the 4th dimension which is time and space and gives rise to our own dimension, the 3rd.) Each 3rd dimension can have billions of alternate timelines branching off of it. Why Only 10 Dimensions Short answer: because the general polulace can't grasp theory. 14 dimensions? In Dr. Eric Weinstein’s theory, called Geometric Unity, he proposes a 14-dimensional "observerse" that has our familiar four-dimensional space-time continuum embedded within it. The interaction between the two is something like the relationship between the people in the stands and those on the pitch at a football stadium--the spectators (limited to their four-dimensional space) can see and are affected by the action on the pitch (representing all 14 dimensions) but are somewhat removed from it and cannot detect every detail. Because of our limited purview--what Weinsetin calls a “handedness”--we simply can’t see things like the dark matter that we know resides in our universe. Along with that, he proposes that dark energy is a type of fundamental force that could sit alongside gravity, electromagnetism, the strong and weak nuclear forces. This force pushes space apart and its strength is variable throughout the universe. Furthermore, Weinstein’s theory predicts the existence of more than 150 new subatomic particles, most of them with exotic properties (such as electric charges that are greater than one, which is the maximum seen in nature at present). This has been debated and debated and debated by physicists world-over. In summation: "yeah, okay, whatever." That's what our PLverse is organized the way it is. Leave dark matter to the gods. Thanks. The Universe We Know and Love As stated, we exist in a 3rd dimension. Take all these 3rd dimensions (which we live in) and start putting them in a cup. Add the next bigger dimension, right on up until you reach the 10th dimension (which is EVERYTHING in the Universe). That cup now contains ALL, including gods and mortals. We're just lukewarm coffee. In game terms, we refer to everything within the Personification Life scope as "PLverse". Greater Beings Now imagine something existing outside ''that cup. That's a Greater Being. The GB sticks its finger in the cup and everything in the cup sees the finger as a god. The coffee/cosmic soup relates to that finger because the finger is now inside the ''known Universe. No one ever pauses to consider there's anything outside the Universe at all. That's why Greater Beings are so powerful. Greater being exist outside the Universe. They don't concern themselves with mortals, invasions and so on although a few still take interest in what's going on inside the cup. Some are actively involved. Most have more important things to worry about, if they’re awake at all. In Gameplay: Greater Beings are reserved for OP in order to fix fuck ups by god-characters. OP designates who can use a Greater Being AND it can only be used as a Deux ex Machina for the purpose of saving the thread. Greater Being Classification Creator Greater Beings such as Pearlelei and Elohim (Abrahamic God) that formed the fabric of the Universe (cosmic strings). They literally created something from nothing. Christ is an offspring of a Greater being, born the Son of God but also God because that Greater Being poured some of Himself into Christ. Giovenith is a daughter of a Greater Being (born from Pearlelei) but is independent of her mother. Just two examples. Chaotic These Greater Beings didn't create the fabric or cosmic strings, but they can weave it and manipulate it. (The 40K gods, in my story arc, are part of one such Greater Being. They weren't born from the GB they come from. They are a manifestation of him. Their GB is asleep and his fingers believe themselves to each be independent of him because they don't realize he exists. ) Meanwhile, other Chaotic Greater Beings use the fabric of the universe to fashion/form gods. Lovecraft's gods were formed this way and let’s toss Zalgo in there for good measure. They will never be more powerful than they are now, and will never be as powerful as the GB that fashioned them. We can add other pantheons to this level as well since they have gods that both create and destroy within the Universe. Why? Because someone is going to come along and want to run Lovecraft or Zalgo or something from the Spaghetti and when they screw up the universe, we’ll need to fall back on Greater Beings to fix it. Devourer These Greater Beings destroy the cosmic strings, unraveling them. They stick a tentacle into the universe but never manifest an actual independent entity which means we won’t see ANY player characters stemming from these beings. Period. End of discussion. The Strife The war between Greater Beings. This battle has eternally raged between Creator and Devourer Greater Beings. Chaos Greater beings have their hands full trying to weave what's been unraveled and keep balance. Some Chaotic Greater Beings are actually on the side of the Devourers, and are unraveling things as well. (Game note: this is OP discretion.) Gods Greater Beings transcend gods. They only appear to be gods due to their immense power, and only if they stick a finger into the cup. They really couldn't care less about what mortals think of them. All gods come from Greater Beings. God Identification *Born gods are born from a Greater Being. Most, but not all, retain knowledge of the Greater Being they come from. (Giovenith, Christ, etc.) *Finger gods are part of their Greater Being. Most, if not all, are unaware of their connection to that Greater Being. *Formed gods were created by a Greater Being but are totally independent from it and thus weaker than the first two. Formed gods are totally clueless.) The majority of gods are formed gods. *Godlings are simply young gods. *High Ones. The term is used to denote a god or godling. In some cases, "Most High" is used by certain players to denote a loose sense of hierarchy. Demigods and Others *Demigods may have been formed by gods. They might simply be powerful creatures which mortals mistake for gods. *Demons/Daemons, Angels, Jinn. These are created by gods and/or demigods. Some, in the case of Lucifer, were created by Elohim (a Greater Being) but lack knowledge of what Elohim truly is. *Spirits. Blame them on the cosmos. They spring to life from a variety of methods. *Fae. Blame them on the cosmos, too. Magic Expression There is reoccurring symbolism woven into the PLverse. Topology Topology is about spatial relationships and glistening shapes that span dimensions. It's the Silly Putty of mathematics. Sometimes, topology is called "rubber-sheet geometry" because topologists study the properties of shapes that don't change when an object is stretched or distorted. The best way for people of all ages to fall in love with topology is through the contemplation of the Mobius strip -- a simple loop with a half twist…. The Mobius strip is the ultimate metaphor for something simple, yet profound -- something anyone could have discussed centuries prior to its discovery, but didn't. The Mobius strip is a metaphor for magic and mystery, and a perpetual icon that stimulates us to dream new dreams and look for depths even in seemingly shallow waters. Iron Age Castro culture triskele, reused in a barn. Airavella, Allariz, Galicia.jpg|Iron Age Castro culture triskele, reused in a barn. Airavella, Allariz, Galicia The Korean Tricolored Taegeuk.jpg|The Korean Tricolored Taegeuk Triskele of the Amfreville Gaulish helmet.png|Triskele of the Amfreville Gaulish helmet Celtic triskele of three stylized bird heads with whorl in the center.jpg|Celtic triskele of three stylized bird heads with whorl in the center Triune.gif|Creation, Chaos and Destruction: Three Outside which influence within Universe and Being.jpg|Universe interwoven with three forms of Greater Being Man, since his beginning, has been drawn to these concepts: beginning, middle and end.